1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for recovery of liquid or free-flowing chemicals in chemical plants.
2. Description of the Background
Methods and apparatuses for recovery of chemicals in chemical plants are known in principle in the prior art. For instance, EP 1 705 170 A1 describes a recovery method for liquid chemical products in plants. In this method, residues of liquid chemical products which remain in plants on a chemical production site are recovered.
Specifically, the chemical products are collected from the individual plants via exit lines at the bases thereof, and passed by their own force of gravity into a combined inclined collecting line arranged beneath the plants. By the force of gravity, the chemical products flow through the inclined collecting line into a collecting vessel arranged beneath the inclined collecting line.
Methods and plants of this kind are only of limited suitability for a number of applications, especially where products having relatively high viscosity are to be recovered or where different chemicals can be collected from one plant. Examples of these are product residues in a plant which are drawn off before a cleaning fluid flushes the plant, and the latter is likewise to be recovered.
For recovery of chemicals of relatively high viscosity, either sufficient time is required for them to be able to flow into the collecting vessel or the inclined collecting line has to have a comparatively high gradient. The latter variant places high demands on the plant construction, since either the plants have to be built upward or the collecting line along with the collecting vessels have to be provided at greater depth in the ground.